Written Answers Friday 15 October 2010

Scottish Executive

Energy

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is to the (a) public purse and (b) electricity consumer of the biomass developments proposed by Forth Energy at Leith and elsewhere in Scotland.

Jim Mather: In Scotland, applications to build and operate power stations in excess of 50 megawatts (MW) are made to the Scottish ministers for consent using the Section 36 application process.

  Developers wishing to make a Section 36 application are required to pay a handling fee to the Scottish Government, this fee is split between the local planning authority and the Scottish Government; such applications are processed by the Scottish Governments Energy Consents Team who currently handle anything between 30 and 40 applications at a given time.

  (a) Each application is unique and will involve submission to the Scottish Government and its consultees of a site-specific Environmental Impact Assessment, which means that the time and public resource taken to process each application is different. Given this context, it is therefore not possible to accurately account for the cost to the public purse of handling individual applications. However, developers wishing to make an application under Section 36 of the Electricity Act are required to pay a handling fee to the Scottish Government, which is based on the size of the development and split between the local planning authority and the Scottish Government.

  (b) Due to the complex and highly regulated nature of electricity markets in the UK it is not possible to estimate the cost to the consumer of individual electricity generating stations.

Ferry Services

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has recently met, or plans to meet, the chairman of the David MacBrayne Group and, if so, what issues were or will be discussed.

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers, special advisers or officials have met representatives from the David MacBrayne Group or Caledonian MacBrayne in the last 12 months and, if so, what issues were discussed.

Stewart Stevenson: Scottish Government ministers and officials have met the Chair and representatives of the David MacBrayne Group, including Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac Ferries Ltd), on a number of occasions in the last 12 months to discuss sponsorship and contractual matters relating to supporting lifeline ferry services to island and remote communities in Scotland.

Homecoming Scotland

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the economic impact of Homecoming Scotland in (a) Ayrshire and (b) North Ayrshire has been since January 2009.

Jim Mather: An independent evaluation of the economic impact of Homecoming Scotland 2009 was done by Glasgow-based EKOS Ltd, a leading independent UK consultancy specialising in economic and social development. EKOS concluded that Homecoming Scotland 2009 generated net additional expenditure for Scotland of £53.7 million. The evaluation did not breakdown this impact on a regional basis.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what five subjects were raised most often by members of the public in written correspondence with (a) the First Minister and (b) each cabinet secretary in the last 12 months and how many representations were received in respect of each subject.

Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government replied to 31,181 items of Ministerial correspondence during the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010.

  The top five subjects raised most often by members of the public in written correspondence specifically addressed to the First Minister and Cabinet Secretaries in the last 12 months were as follows:

  

Subject
Number of items addressed to specific Minister or Cabinet Secretary
Total number of items generically addressed to Scottish Ministers


 
First Minister
 


Land Use Planning - casework
64
225


Independence Referendum
48
55


Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill
44
108


National Conversation on Scotland’s Constitutional Future
41
56


Banks
41
74


 
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth
 


Land Use Planning - Casework
48
225


Banks
23
74


Glasgow Airport Rail Link
21
88


Drinks Industry
20
59


Council Tax
13
62


 
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
 


Consultation on Schools Closures
57
120


Local Authority Education Budgets
44
81


Higher Education
41
53


Literacy
27
38


Childcare Support for Students in Higher and Further Education
25
37


 
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
 


Hospital complaints (Glasgow, Western Isles)
135
154


Health – Car Parking Charges
126
137


Hospital Services (Edinburgh, Lothian & Borders)
122
151


Hospital Services (Glasgow, Western Isles)
110
126


Hospital Services (Fife/ Grampian/ Orkney/ Shetland/ Tayside
103
135


 
Cabinet secretary for Justice
 


Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al -Megrahi
60
108


Complaints against the Police
49
90


Liquor Licensing
49
97


Sentencing (general and including compensation orders)
45
72


Complaints against a Judge or Sheriff
23
39


 
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
 


Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill
59
108


Scotland Rural Development Programme
32
43


Marine (Scotland) Bill
23
25


Scottish Rural Development Plan
18
20


Riding Establishments
13
 21


Land Use Planning - casework
13
225



  The table does not include the significant volume of correspondence addressed to Scottish ministers which is received in response to either consultation exercises or as part of organised campaigns.

Scottish Development International

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what it understands is meant by the ambassadorial role of the chief executive of Scottish Development International.

John Swinney: The ambassadorial role of the Chief Executive of Scottish Development International covers the requirement to represent Scotland at the highest levels internationally and, working with other public and private sector organisations, to play a leading role in the promotion of Scotland overseas with the overall aim of increasing sustainable economic growth.